Electrical connectors having lock mechanisms for keeping the electrical connectors connected to their counterpart connectors are known.
For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No. 2003-297482 discloses a connector in which a lock lever is supported by its rotation-center shaft rotatable relative to the connector main body. When this connector is mated to connect with its counterpart connector, the lock lever rotates about their rotation-center shafts and the connector engages with its counterpart connector. This prevents the connector main body from being disconnected from its counterpart connector unintentionally. Nevertheless, the connector as recited in this patent document has drawbacks as follows. First, the connector main body has a structure in which its lock lever is supported by its rotation-center shaft consisting of a pin. This increases the number of parts. Second, manufacturing this connector requires a larger number of steps associated with installing the lock levers in the connector main body.
By contrast, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 7-272793 discloses a card connector including a card discharging mechanism with a structure in which an arm bar for pushing a card out of the card connector is rotatably supported, without using a pin, to its lift blade that is a part of the main body.
In the case of assembling the card connector as recited in the latter patent document, the arm bar is fixed, like a rivet, to its lift blade made of a metallic plate as follows. Specifically, a cylindrical rotary shaft is formed in the lift blade by burring, and then the front end of the rotary shaft is expanded in the radial directions with the rotary shaft passing through an opening formed in the arm bar. This requires specialized steps for performing the burring process and expanding the front end of the shaft, as well as requiring facilities for the processes.